When he's on his game, Linus Ullmark is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. Unfortunately for the Ottawa Senators, Ullmark didn't play in the next 19 games after he suffered an injury in the Senators' final game before Christmas.
Ullmark returned in between the pipes this past Tuesday and made 34 saves in the Senators' 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ullmark made 43 saves last night in the Senators' 5-1 loss against the Florida Panthers. The Senators won't return to play until Feb. 22 when they host the Montreal Canadiens, but Ullmark will be representing Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off that will start this Wednesday.
As the 4 Nations Face-Off is three days away for Ullmark to represent Sweden, the Senators and their fans now hope that history doesn't repeat itself when another Senators goaltender represented their country in an event.
Senators hope Ullmark doesn't repeat of what happened to Dominik Hasek in 2006 Olympics
The 2006 Senators had huge championship aspirations. A big part of that was due to Hall of Fame goaltender Dominik Hasek. In the 2005-06 season, Hasek was on fire with a 28-10-4 record with a 2.09 goals against average and .925 save percentage. Then, the 2006 Olympics happened.
In the 2006 Olympics, Hasek represented Czech Republic. Hasek sustained an adductor muscle tear not even 10 minutes into the first game played against Germany.
After his injury in the Olympics, Hasek missed not only the rest of the Olympics, but the remainder of the 2005-06 season. At the time the Olympics arrived, the Senators had a 37-14-5 record. The Senators ended up being eliminated by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round of the 2006 playoffs. If Hasek never got hurt in the Olympics, who knows what would've happened for the 2006 Senators.
Today, the Senators are in a playoff spot with a 29-23-4 record as the 4 Nations Face-Off is starting this Wednesday. The Senators now hope history doesn't repeat itself 19 years later where Ullmark gets injured in the 4 Nations Face-Off and misses the remainder of the season like Hasek did in 2006, or just another big chunk of the final 26 games of the season.
Ullmark has already been sidelined twice this season due to injuries. With being sidelined twice already this season, it's with fair reason to be concerned with Ullmark representing Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Ullmark and Sweden will face Canada on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET in Montreal to begin the 4 Nations Face-Off.